As reported by BMA’s media sources, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has been accused of not being able to afford staff salaries and severance packages for retrenched former employees of the public broadcaster. As such, the Communications Workers Union (CWU), a union representing the retrenched former employees, has voiced its concerns regarding the payment delays.
However, the SABC released a statement saying that the circulating rumours that the public broadcaster cannot pay salaries were speculative. Addressing what the SABC deemed gossip was Mmoni Seapolelo, who noted that the SABC would like to refute the allegations that it is not able to pay its employee salaries. The corporation has a comprehensive cash management process in place, which is aligned with the best practice, said the Acting Spokesperson.
Secretary-General of CWU Aubrey Tshabalala said the raised concerns stemmed from reports given by the group that took voluntary severance packages. Tshabalala said the union was still consolidating numbers of its former members who had not yet received their pay-outs. Therefore, the non-payments are not a rumour as SABC states.
The Acting Spokesperson, Seapolelo, said the public broadcaster was in the process of making the payments to the retrenched former employees. The process is anticipated to be concluded soon, with most of the payments have taken place, she said. Furthermore, the SABC has significantly reduced its salary expenditure and has now seen a substantial improvement in revenue generation, set to make the organisation self-sustainable, added Seapolelo.
